Trellis construction



April 1, 1947. E, ANDERSON 2,418,151

TRELL-IS CONSTRUCTION- Filed Nov. 8, 1944 o o a] @ji .15 17 Y ziiiarmey;

Patented Apr. 1, 1947 TRELLIS CONSTRUCTION Ernest Anderson, Minneapolis, Minn, assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to Catherine Anderson, doing business as Kate Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minn, and one-half to Kenneth E. Luger, Minneapolis,

Minn.

Application November 8, 1944, Serial No. 562,457

2 Claims.

(c1. it-47) 'This invention relates to a trellis construction. L

It is an object of the invention to provide a trellis which can be collapsed into a compact unit for storage and shipment and which can be readily setup for use and again dismantled or collapsed until again needed for further use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trellis construction made up of a plurality of independently movable arms or branches wherein means is provided for adjustably holding the several arms in various relatively spaced positions to change the shape and general appearance of the trellis.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the views, and, in which: A

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device in its collapsed position;

Figure 4 is a plan view of an adjustable spacer element;

Figure 5 is a plan view of an end spacer element;

Figure 6 is an enlarged section taken on the line fi6 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectiontaken on the line 1-! of Figure 1; and

Figure 8 is an enlarged section taken on the line 88 of Figure 1.

In Figures 1 and 3 there is shown a base member it which is preferably formed from a piece of wood. Extending upwardly from an end of the base member I0 and preferably formed integrally therewith is a plurality of trellis arms II which are flexible and preferably somewhat resilient. Where the arms II meet the base ID a metal band or tie member I2 is placed about the lower ends of said arms and the upper end of the base Ill to tightly bind the lower ends of the arms and prevent the base from splitting longitudinally when said arms are spread apart, as shown in Figure 1.

The upper ends of the trellis arms II are reduced as shown at Ila in Figures 2 and '7. A trellis arm and spacer I3 is providedwith apertures It which are sufliciently large to fit over the reduced ends Ila of the arms II but of insuificient size to receive the remainders of said arms II. When the ends Ila of said arms are passed through the apertures I4 in the end spacer I3 and cotter pins I5 or similar fasteners are passed through the extension Ila above the spacer I3, the latter is firmly retained on the ends of the arms II and they are maintained in spaced relation, as shown in Figure 1.

In Figure 5 there is shown a second arm spacer I5 having apertures I! which are sufficiently large to receive the main portions of the trellis arms II. The spacer I6 is, of course, placed on the arms II prior to mounting of the end spacer I3. The spacer I6 can be moved to various positions longitudinally of the arms I I but generally along intermediate portions thereof to var the spacing between said arms II at the points where said spacer Ifi crosses and engages said arms. The resiliency of the arms II is such that they will frictionally engage the walls of the openings IT in the spacer I 6 so that it will be held in any desired position longitudinally of the arms II.

If desired another intermediate spacer I8 similar to the spacer IE but having differently spaced apertures therein can also be placed on the trellis arms I I for movement and retention in the same manner as the spacer I6.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a simply constructed trellis unit which can be collapsed into a very compact form and readily opened up for use. Furthermore, the structure is such that the shapes of the trellis arms I I can be readily changed by longitudinal adjustment of a spacer such as spacers I6 or I8 which can be slid along the arms of the trellis and which will be retained fri-ctionally in the desired adjusted position.

In addition to the above mentioned features and advantages of the invention it should be noted that the customer or user can quickly set up the trellis without having to resort to the use of nails or screws. It is a structure which can be readily sold as a conveniently packaged product and erected by users who may or may not have any mechanical skill.

While the structure can be conveniently made of wood it is, of course, contemplated that other suitable materials might be used, and it is further understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a trellis construction, a base, a plurality of spaced flexible arms rising vertically from said base, each of said arms adjacent its free end being provided with an upwardly facing stop member, detachable spacer means disposed over the free ends of the arms and engaging each of said stop members so as to positively limit downward movement of the spacer means and to maintain the free ends of the flexible arms in predetermined spaced relation relative to each other, said spacer means being entirely supported by said arms, second spacer means disposed about and frictionally supported on and entirely by said arms and movable therealong between the base and the first named spacer means for varying and maintaining the relative spacing of the intermediate portions of said arms, and means carried by the free end of each of said arms to prevent separating movement of the first named spacer means from the free ends of said flexible arms.

2. In a trellis construction, a base, a plurality of spaced flexible arms rising vertically from said base each having its upper free end formed with a reduced portion to provide a pair of spaced opposed upwardly facing shoulders spaced inwardly of said free end, detachable spacer means disposed over the reduced portions of said arms and engaging said shoulders so as to prevent downward movement of the spacer means and for holding said arms in fixed determined spaced relation, second spacer means disposed about and frictionally supported on said arms and movable therealong between the base and the first-named spacer means for varying and maintaining the relative spacing of the intermediat portion of said arms, and detachable means connected to the upper ends of said arms above said shouldered portions and the first named spacer means so as to prevent removal of the latter from said arms. ERNEST ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 01' record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,953,638 Smith Apr. 3, 1934 1,592,764 Hamilton July 13, 1926 890,948 Waite June 16, 1908 166,766 Goodspeed Aug. 17, 1875 610,803 Elliott Sept. 13, 1898 170,850 Harding Dec. 7, 1875 

